Commuting to work and gender-conforming social norms: evidence from same-sex couples

TL;DR

This study examines how gender norms influence commuting times among same-sex and different-sex couples, revealing significant differences that suggest social norms and parenthood roles shape commuting behaviors.

Contribution

It provides novel empirical evidence on how gender-conforming social norms affect work commute times within couples, especially highlighting differences among same-sex and different-sex partnerships.

Findings

Women in same-sex couples have longer commutes than women in different-sex couples.

Men in same-sex couples have shorter commutes than men in different-sex couples.

Within-couple commuting time gaps are smaller in same-sex couples.

Abstract

We analyze work commute time by sexual orientation of partnered or married individuals, using the American Community Survey 2008-2019. Women in same-sex couples have a longer commute to work than working women in different-sex couples, whereas the commute to work of men in same-sex couples is shorter than the one of working men in different-sex couples, also after controlling for demographic characteristics, partner characteristics, location, fertility, and marital status. These differences are particularly stark among married couples with children: on average, about 3 minutes more one-way to work for married mothers in same-sex couples, and almost 2 minutes less for married fathers in same-sex couples, than their corresponding working parents in different-sex couples. These gaps among men and women amount to 50 percent, and 100 percent, respectively, of the gender commuting gap estimated in the literature. Within-couple gaps in commuting time are also significantly smaller in same-sex couples. We interpret these differences as evidence that it is gender-conforming social norms boosted by parenthood that lead women in different-sex couples to specialize into jobs with a shorter commute while their male partners or spouses hold jobs with a longer commute.